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New Board Gaming |OT2| On Tables, Off Topic
- Thread starter Karkador
- Start date
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Insta-buy. On a side note they already charged me for Fire in the Lake! I'm so excited to get my hands on that game.
Is 1960s Cuba far enough removed? If so, I'd recommend to start with that one. Smaller deck of cards, smaller map, and clear win conditions. It's an easy game to recommend for anybody interested in playing a COIN game.
The COIN series feels very Euro to me. They really are about area control and resource management. The rules aren't that complicated either and once you played one game in the series you can play the other ones with no problems. I love the series.
I've wanted to! Maybe I'll get the chance to play it someday soon.
So I might have mentioned this in the first OT, but the two games I always see in the COIN series are Andean Abyss and Cuba Libre. I'm not put off by modern themes (I'm more likely to be put off by the general feel of "programmer art" that many wargames have), but I take it that you play as the different sides in the conflict in these games, including the really shitty people.
My girlfriend (who might be one of the more willing participants I know to try these games) is of Colombian descent, and I'm of Cuban descent...so..lol. These games take on a different meaning for each of us.
I can understand how people who have no ties to these conflicts don't really give it a second thought, and that's totally fine, but imagine how weird it might be to play a game where you draw a card and can actually say "oh, look, it's the asshole who did that thing to our family"
We are glad to offer some recommendations!
First of all, though, would you like to tell us a bit about what sorts of geeky things you and your wife like? It would help us narrow it down.
You should give it a try. Its actually fairly straight forward to learn and play, and tons of fun. Its a good entry level wargame, without really beeing a wargame.
Its my second most favourite boardgame. But it might take first place in time. Its just so well designed.
Even if the history part doesnt interest you, just for the mechanics the game is amazing.
Highly highly recommend it.
Impeccable
Member
We met online in Asheron's Call fourteen years ago, she used to play D&D before she met me but I never got into that. We also used to enjoy playing Magc: DotP together each year on console but it's all kind of come to a halt when we had our little girl (who has special needs - lots of appointments, extra hands-on).
I think Carcassone out of all the suggestions (so far) looks like the most fun to start out with. In terms of depth I think we'd spend time learning some harder stuff, so Agricola looks good too. Nice one-two punch, I think.
So, I guess card-games/strategy, RPG games - which again is a very broad spectrum.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
Yea you might like Lord of the Rings, then. It isn't too hard to learn, especially if you have MtG experience. It is best with 2 players, co-op and they release new scenarios for it every month basically. It is a LCG (living card game), not a CCG, so each pack you buy has exactly the same cards for you to build your deck to go up against the "AI". It is really fun, even solo.
Here is a playlist explaining the rules/gameplay
Impeccable
Member
That looks great, thanks!
Going to check that out this evening - you guys are great, thanks!
Carcassonne is a good start (and a great game), but I think it might not shine as a 2 player game until you get one of the expansions (Traders and Builders).
Agricola is quite a huge jump up from that, but if you want a hard game that you can ease yourself into, it's a game many love.
I really recommend you check out the Youtube channel Rahdo Runs Through.
He records videos of himself demonstrating how a game plays, and what he thinks of them. Since he primarily plays games with his wife, he leans heavily into games that play well with 2 players. He has over 200 videos now, but you can check out his Top 10 list videos for a good place to start. (It's also worth mentioning that Agricola is their favorite game of all time)
BomberMouse
Member
I think Carc with 2 can very either very relaxing or cutthroat since you have so much more control. That moment when you take over someone else's castle, so good.
Most people find the theme boring, I mean it's farming. But I like it a lot and prefer it over your typical power fantasy setting or medieval trading.
I really REALLY dislike how Caverna is more dwarfs with weapons than just cavemen.
Nah, it's a pretty stressful game, IMO, but some people just love that challenge. I prefer the 2P Agricola game, myself.
Not really. A looot of people hate it. Its very stressfull and it constantly feels like your playing against the game. Same reason why many hate Yedo. Personally I enjoy that aspect but its definately not for everyone.
One flaw of Agricola is, like someone else here mentioned, the lack of real interaction with the other players.
I have zero knowledge of the table top genre and need some help. I do a weekly beer meet-up with a friend and I want to find something fun to play. I am trying to find something that 2-3 people(most of the time 2) can enjoy over some drinks. A game that is engaging, but not overly complicated to pickup would be preferable. I am open to all types of games and settings. Thank you for the help!
Where do you do your beer meet-ups?
At a each other's apartments. We both have plenty of room and surfaces.
Should be shipping next week! Incidentally, if you ever need a COIN opponent, I'm always down to play on VASSAL. Have a couple long distance friends in the same boat, as well. Could be cool to get a full 4 player game going online.
Exactly, that's why I consider AH (and I'm sure it's the same for EH even though I haven't played it) a role-playing game that tries to be a board-game. If people just try to solve the puzzle it can be a very bland experience; so many random things can happen that people think can be unbalanced or unfair, but the game never tries to be fair, it tries to tell a rich story and that's most of the charm IMO.
That's interesting, what prevents EH from dragging on?
BattleMonkey
Member
EH has more of an ingame clock that's always ticking down that you are racing against, while in AH you are a bit more free to play and can essentially get stuck in going back and forth with the game where you make progress, the game sets you back, then you make progress, game smacks you back again. Rumors and such in AH can also drag things down. EH is also more streamlined game, once you know what you are doing it plays lot quicker than AH.
Sounds good, a colleague of mine bought EH so I'll probably play it some time soon.
I finally got Archipelago to the table, maybe it's because we played it for the first time but player-interaction was quite a bit lower than I had anticipated. We were all trying to get the game to end a.s.a.p. (we were playing the short variant) because we all thought we were in the lead. It was a decent game I guess, but it probably needs more than three players to really shine.
blindrocket
Member
My order arrived today!
Sounds good, a colleague of mine bought EH so I'll probably play it some time soon.
I finally got Archipelago to the table, maybe it's because we played it for the first time but player-interaction was quite a bit lower than I had anticipated. We were all trying to get the game to end a.s.a.p. (we were playing the short variant) because we all thought we were in the lead. It was a decent game I guess, but it probably needs more than three players to really shine.
The interaction primarily comes from the trading, and having to work together to stop the rebels. Also there are quiet a few cards that have you ruin the others play. Did any of you have the traitor victory condition?
Other than that there is a expansion now called War and Peace wich is all about adding player interaction to the game.
Gaming Truth
Member
There's also dealing with island neighbors, turn order bidding, and sussing out what the secret end game objectives are. As you guys get more familiar with the game, a lot more things open up
Thanks for the replies, we didn't have the traitor victory condition but I'm looking forward to have it in future sessions. I do indeed think that we need to play it a couple of times before we can start nagging each other. Looking forward to it anyway.
Also I've just played Arkham Horror + Dunwich Horror + Innsmouth Horror and thanks to extreme luck with characters and random items we managed to keep the game completely under control. It was an easy win for us. Innsmouth was never a threat, only one gate ever opened over there, we had no gate-bursts and we had so many clue tokens (the game started with 2 clue tokens on every unstable location thanks to my random ally Professor Rice) that in no time we sealed 6 gates. Took us less than 4 hours including setup and packing up. Played Flash Point rather after AH but we didn't have much luck there, within three rounds more than 4 hostages were killed (we played on the hardest difficulty level).
Also I've just played Arkham Horror + Dunwich Horror + Innsmouth Horror and thanks to extreme luck with characters and random items we managed to keep the game completely under control. It was an easy win for us. Innsmouth was never a threat, only one gate ever opened over there, we had no gate-bursts and we had so many clue tokens (the game started with 2 clue tokens on every unstable location thanks to my random ally Professor Rice) that in no time we sealed 6 gates. Took us less than 4 hours including setup and packing up. Played Flash Point rather after AH but we didn't have much luck there, within three rounds more than 4 hostages were killed (we played on the hardest difficulty level).
I'd just like to say - you are not forgotten!
Here is a list of stuff you can check out as an introduction:
Hive
(2 players)
This is a strategy game along the lines of Chess, and there are some similarities you might expect- each piece in your command moves around in a unique way (some even move on top of other pieces), and you have a Queen piece you are trying to protect from being surrounded.
However, a game of Hive feels a lot more fresh and unique than Chess because there is no board. Rather than starting with the same setup every time, you start with a few pieces and then tactically add onto the "Hive" with more pieces as the game goes along. If you want a simple, durable game you can take around easily, but is still deep, tests your wits, and can be played again and again, this is a great one.
(There is a regular edition, and a pocket edition for more portability. Both are good)
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Biblios
(2 - 4 players)
This is a deceptively simple game. All you do is draw some cards from a deck and decide which one you're going to keep, which to offer to the other players, and which to put away to be dealt with later. The dice don't get rolled, but instead can be changed to lower or higher values - this is how many points the cards of that color will give everyone at the end of the game.
What's really fun and interesting is the mindgame that's happening behind the scenes. You and your opponents are secretly grabbing cards, stashing some away for later, and raising or lowering the value of the colors with clever card plays - but are you bluffing? Are you raising the value of Blue because you have Blue cards, or because you want other players to think you do (while they ignore the color you actually have)? Do you try to go for all of one color, or try to diversify to compete on multiple levels?
This is an awesome, elegantly simple game that plays really well with 2, 3, or 4 players. It's gone up in price a lot recently because it's been out of print, but the new printing is coming very soon (like this month or next month). Some stores have pre-orders for it. If you're interested, now is the time!
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Star Realms
(2 players, more if you buy additional copies of the game)
This is one of the hottest new games to come out recently, and it's not hard to see why.
This is a space-themed game where you go head-to-head with your opponent to try to take their lifepoints (or whatever the game calls them) down to 0. As a "deck-building game", both players start with an identical, basic deck of a few cards, which you upgrade over the course of the game as you buy new cards and keep the cycle of your deck efficient. So there is a race to try to upgrade your deck into a powerful one before the other player does.
If you're good, you'll be putting together card combos that will work off each other and generate massive damage. Or maybe you'll go for a more defensive strategy. Or maybe you'll just try to use abilities force the player to discard their cards before they even get to use them. It's a very addictive game that plays quickly and makes you think "one more game" every time.
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The Castles of Burgundy
(2 - 4 players)
Alright, here's a board game with an actual board, and a bunch of stuff!
I wanted to mix it up and show you something more involved and European that's still great for 2, so here it is.
In Castles of Burgundy, you are building your own little province, with castles and pastures and all sorts of different little buildings, which will all give you some kind of bonus ability, as well as lots of points. You do this by rolling some dice and using them to either pick up a building tile from the middle board, or to build a tile you already picked up into your grid of land.
What different about the game is that it's not just a simple, random affair of rolling dice and getting whatever may come. You always have several options available for what to do with your dice (you can even modify your dice result, too) - so you often have several choices you have to think about. Ideally, you can start to chain combos of things together, where building one thing will get you a build action of another thing, which will give you another bonus, and so forth, maximizing your turns (of which there are only a set amount).
There are multiple paths to victory in this game, and the fun is thinking about how you're going to try and do it this game. It also comes with several landscape layouts for the town, so you will have a different puzzle every time.
I would argue that the pocket edition is the better version, personally. The tiles are plenty big enough and it comes with the mosquito and ladybug expansions. And it's cheaper!
I like CoB but I think I think it's a tough sell to two gamers with limited experience.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
Had some good game time this weekend. There is a place right in the middle of Houston that is a toy shop/novelty store that also is kind of a video gaming store. Saturday there was a 3DS meetup there. I brought my GF to play some animal crossing and I got to play King of Tokyo and Claustrophobia while watching EVO lol
King of Tokyo is just crazy with 6 players. Going in Tokyo is pretty much a death sentence if you decide to stay for more than one turn. I lost every time we played. Never even came in 2nd D:
Claustrophobia I won every time. The folks up there aren't used to "modern" games I guess but even this one with all of its pieces and its intimidating look is really easy to kind of explain and play and people had a lot of fun with it. The first scenario was all we played and it is definitely unbalanced in favor of the demons, but man does it ever push it's theme. Every game was down to the wire and filled with life or death decision making, basically. It even plays out fully in 30-40 minutes. Very much a thumbs up for this one!
King of Tokyo is just crazy with 6 players. Going in Tokyo is pretty much a death sentence if you decide to stay for more than one turn. I lost every time we played. Never even came in 2nd D:
Claustrophobia I won every time. The folks up there aren't used to "modern" games I guess but even this one with all of its pieces and its intimidating look is really easy to kind of explain and play and people had a lot of fun with it. The first scenario was all we played and it is definitely unbalanced in favor of the demons, but man does it ever push it's theme. Every game was down to the wire and filled with life or death decision making, basically. It even plays out fully in 30-40 minutes. Very much a thumbs up for this one!
Macmanus
Member
Could anyone recommend a dungeon crawl board game similar to Descent but simpler/more digestible to total novices?
My group of friends want to up our nerd level, but have 0 DnD experience. We typically kick around games like Munchkin, King of Tokyo, Forbidden Island, and Smash Up.
My group of friends want to up our nerd level, but have 0 DnD experience. We typically kick around games like Munchkin, King of Tokyo, Forbidden Island, and Smash Up.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
Have you tried 2nd edition of Descent? It is much simpler than 1st edition.
Well, are you interested in the miniatures and the 'dungeon crawling', per se, of something like Descent, or do you want to get into a roleplaying game, where you are DMing and making up stories?
SillyEskimo
Member
That's a good progression you have going. My very first thought is Space Hulk 3rd edition, but that's OOP. My next thought is one of the three D&D board games out (castle ravenloft, legend of drizzt, and wrath of ashardalon). Talisman is a good inbetweener too.
Going off the fantasy theme and into horror, last night on earth and zombicide are great games with strong theatrical elements. Even Betrayal At House on the Hill is a strong starter.
I'm having trouble getting friends together for some games.
I really want to play Twilight Imperium III again. We've only played it twice in the 2 years or so that we've had it. I also really want to get a game of Rex in one day.
Still haven't played Battlestar Galactica either! That's the one I'm currently trying to wrangle people together for.
I really want to play Twilight Imperium III again. We've only played it twice in the 2 years or so that we've had it. I also really want to get a game of Rex in one day.
Still haven't played Battlestar Galactica either! That's the one I'm currently trying to wrangle people together for.
In order of difficulty (more or less)
Mice and Mystics
Dungeons and Dragons Adventure series, Legend of Drizzt in particular
Claustrophobia
Super Fantasy: Ugly Snouts Assault
Super Dungeon Explore
Gears of War
You're probably good until Gears, that's when things get a bit challenging and fiddly (though I'd really recommend it).
It's out of print, but Dungeon Run is a very accessible, quick, and fun dungeon crawler. It's supposed to get a stand alone sequel, but Plaid Hat Games hasn't said much about it for a year.
It starts as semi-cooperative, then it turns to all vs one after the boss is defeated. Whoever picks up the magic boss loot becomes more powerful. For them to win, they either kill everyone else or succesfully exit the dungeon. The sequel is supposed to address the awkward end game dance where nobody wants to pick up the boss charm since they'll probably get killed right after. The og is still fun, but I hope they still have plans for 2
aand nothing comes close to draining your wallet as much as mtg does.
I think Zombicide (original) only would be my recommendation as well.
Do you play?
Macmanus
Member
I've never played any dungeon crawler board game. I've played actual DnD once in my life (but cut my vg teeth on Infinity Engine rpgs so the basic concept isn't lost on me.)
None of us really have RPG experience, so the former.
Thanks a ton for the suggestions. One's I'm going to look at:
Dungeon Run
Zombicide
Mice and Mystics
Betrayal At House on the Hill
It's not hard as hard to get into as it might seem. There are lots of simple RPGs you can try, if the idea of improvising a story with your friends sounds cool. I think it's a lot of fun.
Not paper magic. I've heard you can chain drafts in mtgo for a relatively low entry cost (if you're good), but I hate the ui so I never bothered.
I just don't like that they reset each year and want you to keep buying new sets every few months. That's why I like board games. I'm okay with lcgs since I'm never gambling with what I'll get.
I'm sure I'd enjoy limited/drafts, but I have no desire to own the cards since I'd never amass a collection to take to other formats from that.
BattleMonkey
Member
I used to be hardcore into magic. It's a solid game, but if you want to be competitive, you have to spend tons of money constantly to keep up. We still sometimes play in a casual manner with pools of cards that several of us have collected over the years, keeping the game in an enclosed environment keeps it fun. But yea competitive MTG, nope.
I think a big part of the RPG experience is more about what you want from your RPG. Everyone defaults to the Dungeon and Dragons mold, but there are countless types of RPG systems out there, and to be clear D&D style RPGs is on the tougher end of the spectrum when it comes to rules. Most of the rules for a D&D type rpg fall into the combat mechanics and character stat interaction. The whole storytelling aspect, is often barely touched by the rules so it's up to the players.
Are you interested in telling stories and playing out the role of a character, or are you looking for number crunching dungeon crawling dice chuck fests? If DnD is something you are interested in, then really you should try out one of the three big DnD board games like Castle Ravenloft. These are essentially extremely watered down versions of the DnD rpg to make them into quicker playing board games and cutting out all the rpg like aspects such as leveling, story telling, etc. If you like the DnD dungeon crawler games, then you might want to look into DnD RPG proper, but be warned that it gets far more complex.
If you want to focus on less rules and more character storytelling, their is tons of RPGs that fit that mold too.
I think a big part of the RPG experience is more about what you want from your RPG. Everyone defaults to the Dungeon and Dragons mold, but there are countless types of RPG systems out there, and to be clear D&D style RPGs is on the tougher end of the spectrum when it comes to rules. Most of the rules for a D&D type rpg fall into the combat mechanics and character stat interaction. The whole storytelling aspect, is often barely touched by the rules so it's up to the players.
Are you interested in telling stories and playing out the role of a character, or are you looking for number crunching dungeon crawling dice chuck fests? If DnD is something you are interested in, then really you should try out one of the three big DnD board games like Castle Ravenloft. These are essentially extremely watered down versions of the DnD rpg to make them into quicker playing board games and cutting out all the rpg like aspects such as leveling, story telling, etc. If you like the DnD dungeon crawler games, then you might want to look into DnD RPG proper, but be warned that it gets far more complex.
If you want to focus on less rules and more character storytelling, their is tons of RPGs that fit that mold too.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
Try one of the LCGs(living card games).
LCGs don't work in that limited format (drafted/sealed). I know they're draft packs and all, but they're a different format than traditional lcgs.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
I meant they can do well in scratching that competitive itch. Especially among a group of friends who are constantly metagaming against each other.
PushingButtons
Member
Didn't get to play many games over the weekend. Just a few rounds of King of Tokyo.
Can anybody reco a good solo game? I currently play Friday, Pandemic, and Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and Lord of the Rings LCG. as my goto solos. I'm in the need of something new to play. Preferably something that's between 30-90min playlength.
Can anybody reco a good solo game? I currently play Friday, Pandemic, and Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and Lord of the Rings LCG. as my goto solos. I'm in the need of something new to play. Preferably something that's between 30-90min playlength.
biggyfries
Member
I've been enjoying Urbion lately.